Extreme summer track tires, who has the edge?

Speedboosted

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I'd love to have this thread be a big combination of multiple tire threads from the past in one easy place for them all to be compared. The information I'm looking for is how each tire discussed performs on the track, and no where else. It won't be street driven or see rain, and probably won't do much autocross if any.

I'd like to keep it for anything above a 140 TW rating, no slicks or R comps. Which tires of this current crop has the best balance between speed and longevity? Which is the fastest, what is the longest lasting?

How does the new Nexen tire compare to the veterans of the class?
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...dewall=Blackwall&partnum=735YR8SUR4&tab=Sizes

The wheels I will be using are 18x9.5 Forgestar F14's that are currently home to 275/35 BFG Rivals (non S). They will need to be replace before next spring so I want to get an idea of what I should look at when the time comes. Here are my top replacement choices at the moment, in no particular order. Remember my requirements for where it'll be driven.
-Yokohama AD08R. While it is listed at a 265, the specs show it's as wide if not wider then a lot of other 275 tires.
-Dunlop Direzza Star Spec
-Bridgestone RE11

I love everything about the first gen Rival. I know it's not the fastest, but I like how it doesn't get peaky throughout a session and remains consist the whole day. I've heard they aren't the greatest in the rain but again it doesn't matter. I also like the stiff sidewalls on them compared to some other tires.

Lets hear your thoughts!
 

csamsh

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Assuming you're not interested in anything >300TW:

Fast: Rival S, RE71R

Jacks of all trades: RS3, RE11, AD08R, Rival, Direzza Z2 Star Spec, Pilot Super Sport

Cheap: NT05, Ventus V12, Federal 595RSR

????: RT615k
 

Mark Aubele

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If you want something that will last on track I would stay with the standard Rival. Some of the others will likely get too hot quickly.
 

Speedboosted

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Assuming you're not interested in anything >300TW:

Fast: Rival S, RE71R

Jacks of all trades: RS3, RE11, AD08R, Rival, Direzza Z2 Star Spec, Pilot Super Sport

Cheap: NT05, Ventus V12, Federal 595RSR

????: RT615k

Correct, really looking at 140-200 or so. PSS seems like too much of a street tire to be anywhere close to the first 5 you mentioned on track.

RE071R FTMFW.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 using Tapatalk

No, I can't afford to wear that fast. Not interested in max grip

If you want something that will last on track I would stay with the standard Rival. Some of the others will likely get too hot quickly.

I wish I could, but they don't make them anymore. If they did I wouldn't even be making this thread :(
 

Mark Aubele

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Sorry, I thought they were still selling both. The RS3 V1s on our M3 are pretty tolerant to heat but I think the V2s are much less. No experience with the others.
 

csamsh

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The PSS would probably surprise you...I would take it over an NT05 or Venus V12 on grip, and over any other 300. It gets a mention on the list for its life and wet performance, while only giving up a little to the 200's in dry performance
 

Mark Aubele

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Have the PSS on the wife's M235i. Impressive wear, very good performance. 10k on them and they are still off the wear bars, she typically kills tires in about 8k. Never had that car on track though.
 

Speedboosted

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The PSS would probably surprise you...I would take it over an NT05 or Venus V12 on grip, and over any other 300. It gets a mention on the list for its life and wet performance, while only giving up a little to the 200's in dry performance

NT05 and V12 weren't even in the consideration :)

How do you think the AD08r fares against the others in terms of life and speed? From the reading that I've done, it seems like a slightly faster re11 that also wears slightly faster. The RS3 V2 seems to get too peaky and heat cycle out too fast
 

frank s

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This is the Left Front Pilot Super Sport's response to a bit of understeer on about eight autocross runs on stadium parking-lot asphalt.

17043960957_e329585023_c.jpg


Tires are 275-40x18 on 9.5-inch Shelby CS56 wheels. Car was a near-new 5.0 convertible, all stock except wheels and tires. I have no idea what relationship the "G-meter" readings bear to real-measurements in the real world. (Photo was made several months after the readings were obtained/recorded; red mark is wear-bar locator.)

19584023974_30b92bac64_c.jpg


Edit: For comparison, this is a reading under similar circumstances on a 5.0 coupe. Brembo Pkg, as-delivered Pirellis on Brembo 19x9 wheels. The convertible accel numbers are from a well-prepared drag strip at Barona; coupe accel were from a notoriously under-prepared strip at Qualcomm Stadium.

10680624735_68a714a9b9_z.jpg
 
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El_Tortuga

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Sure loved my Star Specs. I was much better on them than regular Rivals and Rival S disappeared waaaaay too fast on track even in modest temps. Should be named Rival $. ;)

On Falkens now. Not as quick, but very forgiving (lots of recovery grip)
 

2013MustangGT

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Rival S get greasy quick on road courses. Makes for interesting turns (lots of steering input for corrections and throttle feathering). This set will be my last at almost $1500 a set (including shipping) they cost to much for road courses. When I can buy R7s take offs for $100 each that's the route I will go from now on. For auto cross the Rival S are probably awesome. I would suggest the RS3 for dual purpose. Keep in mind that being a tire that can do it all means it does it all okay, but not great.
 

CobraRed

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What kind of life are people getting out of RE71R's?

My last track-y tires were RS-3's and I keep hearing about how Rival S's are good... while they last.
 

Lucky_13

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I run 305 AD08Rs and the up-front price is a little eye-opening, but they've lasted me much, much longer than other tires (PSS, 71R, RS3, Rival S) myself and friends with similar 300+ square setups run on, so their $/event ratio is really good. I ran 7-8 events last year and daily drove on them, and they still have a little less than half tread. Not the fastest tire, but a bit quicker than the guys on RE11s out by me. In the future you can save yourself some pain by getting $200 off on those Discount Tire March sales, etc.

Since some of the tracks out by me have concrete patches, I've seen mixed results for tread wear on the regular Rival. Certain tracks just destroy them, but it seems like other than that they wear as well as the 08Rs.
 

Lucky_13

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^Should also mention that usage is HPDE road course and time trials + daily driving, 0 autocross.
 

El_Tortuga

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Rival S get greasy quick on road courses. Makes for interesting turns (lots of steering input for corrections and throttle feathering). This set will be my last at almost $1500 a set (including shipping) they cost to much for road courses. When I can buy R7s take offs for $100 each that's the route I will go from now on. For auto cross the Rival S are probably awesome. I would suggest the RS3 for dual purpose. Keep in mind that being a tire that can do it all means it does it all okay, but not great.

Similar. My tire cost per day was about $270/day on the Rival S. Yikes!!! Not exactly a direct comparison since I autocrossed on the Star Spec and the regular Rivals, but those were about $70/day (or less). Maybe Rival S if your were a well funded time trialer whose game was to run 2-3 laps and jump off. For me and where I'm at, that's way too much tire money and I need all the seat time I can get.

Can't wait to go back and try the Falkens on road course and see how they compare to Rival S times. I did set personal best's on all 3 track configs I ran on the Rival S, but I don't have a fair comparison. Not only were the Rival S 40 mm wider than previous Star Specs, but the ambient temps were wonderful. Its fixing to get HOT, so I'd bet its going to be fuzzy comparison at best. With the big Falkens, I also set a PB on the only track I've run them on. I haven't driven well in the autocrosses so far.
 
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NUTCASE

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This is the Left Front Pilot Super Sport's response to a bit of understeer on about eight autocross runs on stadium parking-lot asphalt.

17043960957_e329585023_c.jpg

If you are tearing up your tread like that you may want to put some street miles on your tires.

No kidding.

by putting some easy street miles on you smooth the tread back down. Once a treat starts to get chewed up pushing on it more and more will just cause larger chunks to break off. By smoothing them out at the end of the day you break the cycle of bigger and bigger chunks coming out.
 

modernbeat

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The PSS tire is one of the most sensitive to alignment and overdriving I've seen. To get it to wear "right" it really needs a dead-nuts alignment that unfortunately requires you to run it, read it and then make adjustments to the alignment. That's what we do for ALL our competition cars, but neglecting it with the PSS can end up with a chewed up tire or two.

And it's sensitive to overdriving. Figure out the alignment it likes and drive it, but don't slide it. If you've got the car unbalanced (one end has a high slip angle relative to the other) then you are most likely overdriving one end of the car.
 

Norm Peterson

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:shrug:

This is probably the most heavily worn PSS in the set, and like the other three it's got over a thousand track miles on it (and still capable of pulling over 1.3g). Admittedly none of those miles were done at ambient temperatures much above 80°F, but they were singing in many of the corners.

picture.php



Norm
 

TGR96

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That looks like some impressive wear, Norm. Do they have any street miles on them?
 

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